Following his win over Tim Means on Saturday night, there were calls for Kevin Holland to garner an opportunity against a Top 15 opponent, with the welterweight calling out Sean Brady in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.
Seeing people advocate for Holland to face a ranked opponent in the 170-pound weight class based on wins over Means and Alex Oliveira, coupled with his previously being ranked at middleweight didn’t make a great deal of sense to me, given that he never beat a ranked opponent during his stay at 185-pounds, has arguably lost to the four best opponents he’s faced in the UFC, and the same kind of push from fans and media never came for someone like Daniel Rodriguez, who similarly submitted Means a couple years back (on short notice, at that) and has since gone 5-1 against good competition.
And so today’s episode of the Keyboard Kimura Podcast is dedicated to trying to figure out what earns fighters like Holland that fast-pass to fighting Top 15 opponents from fans and media and why it’s not given to others like Rodriguez.
I’m endlessly fascinated by this stuff and genuinely would love for this to become something we can discuss and flesh out either in the comments or on Twitter: @spencerkyte.
Happy Monday. Enjoy the pod!
Keyboard Kimura Podcast: Why does Kevin Holland get so much love?